UK Authorities: Ruth Madoff Withdrew $2 Million Before Bernie's Arrest

As disgraced financier Bernard Madoff sits in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, awaiting his sentencing, investigations are continuing on his relatives, notably his wife Ruth Madoff, who allegedly helped him keep the books for his multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. Now, the United Kingdom's Serious Fraud Office says that Ruth Maddof withdrew $2 million from a British account in the weeks before her husband's confession and subsequent arrest in December.

Last month, it was revealed that Ruth Madoff withdrew about $15 million from various U.S. accounts in November 2008. The feds are trying to freeze her and her husband's assets (Bernard Madoff had previously tried to argue that his wife should keep her assets, though it could be argued they were probably bought with his ill-gotten gains). Ruth Madoff subsequently claimed her nearly $10 million Florida estate as her primary residence, perhaps to shield it from creditors. More recently, the French are moving in to seize her chateau (the U.S.-based trustee responsible for liquidating Madoff's estate is urging that he be given power to take the chateau before the French do).

The UK's SFO says that Madoff transferred $1 billion from the U.S. to his British firm, Madoff Securities International, "The UK operation was a cog in a giant washing machine." Apparently Madoff transferred money between his U.S. firm and MSI to "According to his indictment, Madoff moved the money between his businesses "to give the appearance that he was conducting securities transactions on behalf of investors, when, in fact, he was not." Ruth Madoff is currently free and living on the Upper East Side, where she is hounded by photographers.